


Changes

by LostGirl



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-10-13
Updated: 2006-10-13
Packaged: 2018-06-01 19:44:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6533920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LostGirl/pseuds/LostGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Xander's car had broken down before his road trip had even started?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Changes

**Author's Note:**

> Big, huge happy birthdays to [](http://soft-princess.livejournal.com/profile)[**soft_princess**](http://soft-princess.livejournal.com/)!! Sofie was one of the very first people I met when I came to LJ. She's sweet and encouraging and supportive and deserves a wonderful day! And fic. *G*
> 
> So, this is for [](http://soft-princess.livejournal.com/profile)[**soft_princess**](http://soft-princess.livejournal.com/). Surprise, sweetie! I hope you like it. Um, it may become a series, but I promise nothing. *G*
> 
> Title: Changes  
>  Author: Lostgirl  
>  Pairing: Giles/Xander (pre-slash UST)  
>  Rating: PG-13 (FRT)  
>  Setting: Set just after season 3 and is entirely AU (and possibly crack) from there on out.  
>  Summary: What if Xander's car had broken down before his road trip had even started? (Unbeta'd)  
>  Feedback and Concrit _adored_ : lostgirlslair @ yahoo.com
> 
> Disclaimer: All things BtVS and AtS belong to Joss Whedon and various corporate entities. I am neither.

The streets of Sunnydale were deserted, even though it wasn't all that late.  If he'd been nearer to the Bronze, there would have been people, but Xander hadn't really wanted to see people.  Well, not general people.  He knew he shouldn't be out.  No matter what people thought, he wasn't so stupid that he believed he could take on most of the things on the Hellmouth, unless they were small and human, and even then he'd prefer for running to be an option.

Still, he couldn't just sit around listening to the fighting from above his 'new' basement 'apartment', to the voices of his parents raised and grating on his nerves.  It wouldn't have bothered him, except . . . Well, no, it always bothered him, but he could have handled it, except the loser feeling was too heavy tonight.

He'd ruined things with Cordy, completely, but things with Willow--not to mention Oz, who said even less to him now--weren't exactly great.  It was supposed to be forgiven, and most of the time it seemed like it was, even if things weren't the _same_.  Tonight, though?  Everything felt screwed up tonight.

His big getting-out-of-Sunnydale trip was as dead as the rust bucket he called a car.  His friends were somewhere that was else.  Buffy was probably just finishing her patrol, Willow and Oz--he didn't want to wonder what they were doing.  It probably involved snuggling.

So he sat on the curb, tired of walking, but not ready to go home.  The yelling might have died out by now, but he didn't want to take the chance, didn't even want to see that house, for as long as he could stay away, anyway.

"Xander?" the familiar voice startled him as much as any stranger's would have.  Jumping up, Xander whirled around, tried to reach for the stake in his back pocket and wound up knocking it to the asphalt.  Xander watched the stake roll away until it bumped into a running shoe.  Xander's eyes skittered up to find that the foot in the shoe was attached to a leg in jeans and a torso in a light sweater and a . . . Giles.  A casually dressed, not in tweed kind of Giles.

_Whoa.  New species._

Giles stood a little away, a grocery bag in one arm and a confused look on his face.  "What are you doing out this late?"

Unsure what to say, how to explain, Xander ducked his head and shrugged, refusing to meet Giles' eyes.  He'd been doing that a lot lately, avoiding looking directly at Giles.  "Walking."

"I see."  Giles' tone was crisp and dry, without any hint of pity, which was at least something Xander could be grateful for.  Now he'd leave and Xander could get back to his sulking.  "Come along."

"What?"  Xander's eyes snapped up, meeting Giles' for the first time in more than a week.  Nothing had changed, a little thrill still went through him at the caring there and Xander had to look away again.  He couldn't stand to see that look when it made him feel-- _Not going there, Xan-man.  Not even approaching the zip code neighboring there._

"You can't stand about out here all night.  You may as well join me for dinner."  Giles turned without looking back, as if he were sure Xander would follow.  Of course, Xander _was_ following.

"Dinner?  This late?"  The words just popped out, really.  It wasn't that Xander was turning down the offer, because he never turned down food, but he was surprised and his mouth had taken off without him.

It was Giles' turn to look a little sheepish.  "I was reading and forgot to eat.  Come along."

Xander shrugged at that, almost relieved that Giles wasn't actually asking.  It made things easier.  Giles was an authority figure, right?  Well, okay, so he was more one of the gang than any other adult, but he was the authority figure of the gang, right?  So Xander was allowed, even _supposed_ , to do what Giles said, right?  Which meant he didn't have to do the whole, polite 'thanks for the offer, but I should be getting home,' thing . . . right?

They were both silent the rest of the way; Xander busy trying to figure out why Giles even cared.  Vampire numbers were down, it wasn't like he'd get eaten, at least he didn't think it was.  Giles obviously felt safe enough to make an after dark grocery run.

_Yes, but Giles isn't inept,_ a little voice whispered in the back of his head.  Strangely enough, that little voice had stopped sounding like his father lately.  Now it wore a familiar accent and dredged up words Xander knew but never used.  It wasn't as hard anymore, either.  Sometimes, it even made him smile rather than sigh.  Of course, tonight, it was like everything else.  Screwed up.

Xander held the groceries while Giles unlocked his door, the entire operation accomplished in silence.  Xander thought--or hoped, really--that he was the only one uncomfortable.  Giles didn't seem put off.  In fact, Giles gave Xander a small smile as he took the groceries from him and set them on the counter.

"Would you like coffee?  Tea?"  Giles scooted around Xander, heading into the kitchen while Xander sat down on a stool.

"Uh, do you have soda?"

Giles had started rooting through his grocery bag and his eyes came up to look at Xander without his head moving, just that quick flick of eyes that said, 'why on earth would I want to keep soda in my home?'

Xander couldn't help a grin.  "Milk?  Juice?"

"I believe I may have some orange juice, but I think I finished the milk this morning."  Giles turned, sorted through his fridge and pulled out a carton of juice.  Xander found himself watching Giles and forced his eyes away.  He would have poked around the living room, the desk, but he was fairly sure Giles would give him that 'have you no manners' look and since he'd rather not draw talking looks--they never said anything good and they might end up saying 'leave'--Xander decided to just control his curiosity.

After taking a look at the carton, and then inside it, Giles gave Xander an apologetic glance.  "I don't think you want this."  With a sigh, Giles tossed the carton in the trash can.  "We've once again returned to coffee or tea."

"Oh.  Tea?"  Xander shrugged, not really caring what it was he had to drink, though he watched every move Giles made while putting on the kettle.

"Aren't you supposed to be out of town?" Giles asked, turning back to the counter when he'd finished.  Xander quickly pretended his eyes hadn't gone anywhere they weren't supposed to by whipping his gaze down to his own tangled and fidgeting fingers.  "A road trip?"

"My car kinda gave out on me, so that was another big no go."  Xander risked a look up at Giles, relieved to find he still hadn't flipped the pity switch.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Giles went back to unpacking his groceries.  Xander didn't miss, despite Giles' attempt at making the action quick and surreptitious, the bottle of Scotch that came out and was quickly put away.

"I'm surprised the girls didn't say anything." Xander said and he was, actually.  He'd figured somebody would have at least joked about it.  At least when he was a joke he was still part of the conversation.  It kinda hurt that they hadn't even thought to mention him.

"Hmm?  Well, I haven't really seen either Buffy or Willow this past week.  Uh, I assume they're . . . recovering from everything that's transpired.  It's a lot to take in, as you know."  Xander recognized the 'trying-not-to-be-hurt' tone in Giles' voice.  After all, he was familiar with it; he'd just been feeling sorry for himself for almost the same reason.

"Yeah, well, I haven't seen a lot either.  Buffy's been all crazy with the slaying and the missing Deadboy and Willow's been with Oz a lot, so they've both been busy."  He must have sighed.  He was fairly sure he had, because something caught Giles' attention.

"They don't mean to leave us out of the loop," Giles said, reaching out awkwardly to pat Xander's hand.  Xander tried not to think about the gesture, about how warm Giles' hand had been.  "We both know they . . . they care for us."  He caught Xander's eyes as he said it and Xander couldn't help but smile a little.

"I know.  I kinda just miss them, ya know?  I mean, it happens every summer, but it's weird thinking that it's never going to be the same again.  I'm never gonna be walking down the halls of Sunnydale High and see Will and Buffy and . . . you and . . . it's weird."

"Yes," Giles agreed, though there was something in his tone that Xander couldn't make heads or tails of.  "It will be a bit strange not seeing you, uh, you lot."

Giles broke eye contact and Xander was confused by the awkward duck of his head, the way he went quickly back to unpacking his groceries.  Not liking the silence that followed, Xander stood to offer to help Giles cook.  He had to catch the stool before it went flying.  Grabbing it, he gave Giles a sheepish look and wondered if he could have possibly been less casual.

"Uh, can I help with anything?"

Giles raised both his eyebrows.  "With the cooking?  Uh, well the kitchen is rather small and it's difficult for two people to move about in."  The kettle whistled and Giles turned to fuss over the tea.

"Oh.  Right."  Xander sat back down on the stool, looking around for something to do while Giles cooked dinner.  For both of them.  Xander didn't want to think about why that made him grin.  He really shouldn't.  Giles just wanted to keep him off the streets, in case of vampire.  That's all.  Though, the more he looked around, the more he started to wonder what Giles had been doing since they'd blown up the library.  There were still boxes of books everywhere, and not just books.  Giles had packed up most of his office, too, so there was that statue of some god or another, sticking half out of a box that looked pretty untouched.  And Giles hadn't seen much of Buffy and Willow lately, either.  So what had he been doing?

"So, what are your plans for the summer, G-man?"  Xander asked, fiddling with the stuff on Giles' pass-through counter.  "I mean, beyond the usual aiding Buffy in the never ending fight against darkness.  Anything fun?"

Giles snorted as he set a cup of tea on the counter in front of Xander.  "My plans revolve mostly around unpacking and trying to fit the books into some semblance of order.  What about you?  Now that your road trip isn't possible?  And is lasagna all right?"

"Oh, yeah, lasagna's great."  Xander answered the last question first, mostly because he was attempting to avoid the other one.  "My plans for the summer?  Getting some kinda job so I can afford to pay the _rent_ my parents are going to start charging."  And he hadn't actually meant to say that out loud.

"Rent?  For your childhood bedroom?"  Giles was over by the fridge, digging in the freezer and pulling out two containers.  He set both containers into the oven and then turned back to Xander.

"Uh, no.  I get the basement of doom.  It's like my bedroom, only crappier."  Xander forced a chuckle out, even though it wasn't funny.  He glanced down at his fingers and then focused on his tea as he took a sip.  It wasn’t bad, but Xander liked to tease Giles about his tea.  It was fun to watch him get flustered.

"I suppose this rent starts right away?  No time to find some place else?"  Giles leaned against the counter, his forehead crinkling up like it did when he was considering a problem.

"Yup.  Besides, I don't have said job, yet."  Xander shrugged, looking around for something to change the subject.  It was nice that Giles cared, but Xander didn't feel like going over all the ways he was a loser.  "Why haven't you unpacked yet?"

"Hmm?"  Giles looked at the boxes crowding his living room.  "Well, I have, a bit, but there are quite a lot of books.  It's going to take more than a few days to sort through them all.  And I haven't decided where to put them, yet."

"What's there to decide?  Can you really fit that many books in your bedroom?  I mean, you know, the kitchen would be a little packed and I don't think you should fill your bathtub with books.  The ink would run."

"True," Giles said, his voice sounding amused.  "I do have another room, however.  I'm just not sure I want to bother with moving all the shelving into it."

"You have another room?  Where?"

Giles chuckled and nodded toward the hallway.  Xander leaned over, looking straight down the hall at the door there.  "Oh.  I thought that was a closet."

"It might as well be," Giles said with a shrug.  "It's mostly storage at the moment.  That's where the boxes that were all over my desk and counter have been stowed."

"Oh.  Well, then you can have your own little library right here.  I promise not to blow it up."  Xander held up his hand in the 'scout's honor' position, even though he'd never been a scout.

Giles' lips lifted in that same smile he'd given Xander earlier.  Xander couldn't help but grin back and it wasn't until the oven timer beeped and Giles turned away that Xander realized that they'd been standing there smiling at each other for what was probably longer than you should stand smiling at another guy.

_Damn.  Damn.  Damn._   Suddenly everything felt tense and Xander had to talk, had to say anything that might take Giles' mind off what had just happened.

"You could even move your desk in there.  But then, I guess, what would you put out here?  I mean, you could probably just leave the desk out here, but then there would only be shelves in the other room.  Is that good decorating?" Xander found himself babbling as Giles set a plate of lasagna before him, too embarrassed to look up.

Except that he couldn't help but follow Giles' hands with his eyes.  God, he had to stop this, had to get some kind of leash for his brain, because it was wandering away way too much.  This couldn't be healthy and it couldn't be good.  He was supposed to be thinking about girls, even women, but not Giles.  Er, guys.  Not Giles, guys.  No, not guys either, girls.  Right, girls, possibly even women.

"Xander?"  Realizing he'd zoned out a bit, there, Xander blinked and looked up to find Giles giving him another of those confused, but thoughtful looks.  "Did you hear me?"

"Sorry.  Need to get a leash for my brain."  Xander swallowed hard as he watched Giles consider that.  Thankfully, Giles seemed to give up trying to understand him.

"Well, I was saying you could always live here.  I mean . . . if you'd rather not live in the basement . . . You could rent my extra room.  Uh, just until you saved up enough to find your own place, of course."

Xander blinked, but that didn't wake him up, so he blinked again.  When everything still seemed to be unchanged, he opened his mouth.  "Me?  Uh, you do remember that I'm Xander, right?  You didn't get hit on the head earlier or anything?"

Giles looked quickly back to his lasagna and Xander felt like kicking himself as he realized what it sounded like he'd said.  "I just mean, I'm . . . Xander.  And I'm messy and . . . and Xander."

Giles snorted, finally looking up at him again.  "It's rather hard to forget you, Xander.  And, yes, you're probably right, it was a bad idea."

Xander deflated at those words and began pushing what was left of his lasagna around the plate.  He wanted to say that it wasn't a bad idea, but it probably was.  Giles was neat and quiet and smart and he was . . . well, Xander.  Plus there was the whole part about him already thinking of Giles too much and it was probably better if he spent as little time over here as he could, if he saw Giles as little as he could.

"I still have the money I was going to use for my road trip," Xander found himself saying.  "I could pay the first month tomorrow."  Xander glanced at Giles out of the corner of his eyes, unable to look at him straight on.

"All right.  We'll work out what the rent should be and we can clear out the room tomorrow."  Giles didn't look up from his meal, but Xander thought he saw a small smile on Giles' face.

Xander's brain spun and tried to run off in several directions at once.  There were a few thoughts that kept bobbing to the surface of the whirlpool before getting sucked back under again.  He was going to be living with Giles.  Xander shook his head, but found himself smiling.  Maybe the summer wouldn't be too bad after all.  That, or it would be hell, but it would be a whole different kind of hell than he'd been expecting.

"So, what's your policy on TV while eating?"


End file.
